#randy rhoads remembered

[thegrayhairedman]

Before becoming a bard Randy became a guardsman of the Royal Guard at the age of fifteen. This was the request of the late mother who dreamed that her son would have a place in life and not die of hunger. He complied with her request but he never felt on the right side. Day after day Randy stood under the scorching sun among the stone walls of the castle with the heavy banner of the king on his shoulder. He was dressed in heraldic colors and a long velvet chaperon. But he was not looking at his colonel but somewhere beyond the horizon, into the sky, the edge of which was visible from behind the towers, where free birds were flying. He kept trying to imagine what they saw, migrating from forest to forest, from lake to lake, from river to river.  Spending hours of observation his fragile but strong and flexible figure gradually lost the necessary stance. Therefore he was often punished for absent-mindedness, born of inexperience and a gentle nature. He was not suitable for military affairs. Therefore, at every night, the young man whispers to God, praying that he will send him the path. This path does not have to be simple or fun, satisfying or safe, but it must reveal it in business and make it useful to the world. And one day, having met a cheerful curly-haired minstrel named Kevin DuBrow on the highway looking for company on a long journey, Randy from that day never returned to the blue standard and his chaperon. Was God leading him to a knight in purple armor? Did God glorify his ballads? Randy didn't know. He was simply responding to a call that no one else had heard. Ps. The art is a backstory to a line of drawings of the wandering bard Randy and John, the exiled knight.

[eddievanhalenyknow]

About the 1982 Diver Down interview

Is that in Part 4? What do you all think?

This is my opinion..

I have seen that he says "honest" opinions that can sound harsh, but yes in other occasions I have seen he can act somewhat arrogant, don't exactly remember which..

He can be very critic of other musicians to the point that it sounds harsh/arrogant lol. For example also what he used to say about Jimmy Page etc. I can't really tell when he is lacking in tact or just being arrogant

In this interview he says something like:

"Randy Rhoads said in interviews that he learned everything from me"

"Randy Rhoads was good but didn't do anything new that I hadn't done" "it's ok to copy styles, I copied from other people too"

First he says "oh what a way to go" but then says Randy Rhoads must have been drunk(?) when he crashed the plane and... calls him stupid 😅

Similar to what he used to say about Jimmy Page (JP also called himself sloppy/illiterate, I have a quote of that here) what he said might be "true" but kind of harsh and not to be said out loud lol

[cliffburton]

cliff + randy rhoads would've been an insane combination tho given they both had similar influences (from what i remember on randy's side

[earlyblackparade]

Ray Toro of My Chemical Romance

July 16, 2007 | Lisa Sharken | seymourduncan.com

Meet Ray Toro, guitarist with New Jersey’s red-hot alternative punk-pop rocker group, My Chemical Romance. We had the chance for a long distance chat before MCR hit the stage in Germany to support its highly acclaimed new disc, The Black Parade. In just a few short years that included lots of touring and self-promotion, MCR quickly grew from a local indie sensation to an international phenomenon with a loyal and ever-increasing fan base.

Toro filled us in on what inspired him during his formative years as a musician and detailed the gear he uses live. We also got the scoop on how MCR crafted its monstrous guitar tones in the studio and what’s in store for the group in 2007. There’s a lot to look forward to and no doubt that we’ll be hearing a great deal more from these Jersey boys. The future is looking bright and seems to hold even greater success for this very promising new band!

Which players had the greatest influence on your musical style? My two biggest influences have always been Randy Rhoads and Brian May. I was a fan of Randy Rhoads because he was one of the first players I can remember who mixed classical music with a metal and hard rock style of playing, and he did it very tastefully. It was really inspiring. “Dee” was just so moving because he wrote it for his mother and it was a classically-influenced piece. What I like about Brian May is that he views the guitar like an orchestra. His guitar playing is very symphonic. I’m just a huge fan of how he layers and harmonizes things like an arranger or a conductor. A little later, probably because of Randy Rhoads’ influence, I started listening to classical guitarists like Andrès Segovia and Christopher Parkening. I was obsessed with the way they would take classical pieces and arrange them for a single guitar with the way they have moving melody and bass lines that work together. Segovia was one of the guys who made classical guitar a respected instrument. When guitarists first started playing like that it wasn’t really looked upon as artistic. He traveled the world and was a champion for having classical guitar recognized as a concert instrument. Parkening was Segovia’s student and he carried on his legacy.

Have your listening tastes changed? Do you still listen to the music that influenced you when you started? Yes. I don’t listen to much new stuff. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a music snob. I think that I’ve always been very careful about listening to current music and being influenced by it. I’m afraid of stealing stuff from it. But there are a couple of new bands that I like, Muse being one of them. I love Muse. They have great guitar work and great songwriting. They’re one of the few new bands that I can listen to nowadays. But pretty much, I just listen to the same stuff I used to listen to when I was younger.

With older music, do you tend to pick out things you hadn’t noticed before when you listen now? Yes. That’s the best thing about music. Depending on what situation you’re in when you’re listening, you’re just in a certain head space and you’ll pick up on little things that you never heard before, especially when you’re listening to stuff like Queen or Pink Floyd. You’ll pick out things like harmonies or nuances in the guitar playing or singing, or you’ll hear little mistakes. I recently listened to Led Zeppelin and noticed that sometimes Jimmy Page’s guitar was going out of tune while they were recording, but it adds character. If you listen to “Stairway To Heaven,” you’ll hear how he’s doubling certain things on an acoustic guitar and he’s playing the same thing on an electric, and it’s panned left to right. These are things that I never used to pick up on when I was younger. But now I can hear those things and it gives me a different appreciation for the music.

When you had first heard these songs, was it on vinyl or CD? Most of the time you never could hear those very fine details as clearly on the original vinyl records as you could on remastered CDs, or even on the original version CDs. You’re right. The first time I listened to stuff like Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Queen it was actually through my older brother and he had all this on vinyl. He was a huge influence on me and he was the one who showed me how to play guitar. He bought me my first real guitar and he introduced me to all that stuff. He introduced me to bands like Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, and also Motley Crue and Metallica. So he was my gateway into guitar playing and those styles of music.

Let’s talk about your gear. What are you currently using live? Right now I’m using Marshall JCM 2000s® the DSL100 with two 1960A cabinets. I don’t use many pedals. I’m very basic. I just have a Dunlop Crybaby wah, Boss EQ pedal, Boss Pitch Shifter to do harmonies, Boss Chorus Ensemble, and Electro-Harmonix POG Polyphonic Octave Generator, which you can set up to play one octave below, an octave above, or two octaves above. You can make your guitar sound like a Hammond B3 organ when you use that in combination with the chorus pedal. It’s a really cool pedal. My main guitar right now is a Gibson Les Paul Standard that I think is either from ’91 or ’93 which I picked up while on tour. I have Seymour Duncan Phat Cat (SPH90-1) P90-style pickups in it which are the size of a humbucker. They’re amazing. I’m really psyched about them. I have another Les Paul Standard which is probably from ’93 and it has a Seymour Duncan JB (SH-4) in the bridge position and the neck pickup is whatever came on the guitar. My brother was the person who had turned me onto the JB. It was the first after market pickup I bought because he said that I had to get a Seymour Duncan JB!

What do you like most about your Duncan pickups and what types of tones do you go for with each of them? For the Phat Cats, I call it a “meat and potatoes” tone. It’s very thick and punchy, just in the right spots. I use the guitar with the JB for songs that need a little more edge and more gain. The JB has a hotter tone and more gain than I get with the Phat Cats. It works really well for songs that are a little more riffy. A lot of our older material has more riffing going on with lots of single-note picked riffs, and there’s a lot more playing. On the new stuff, the guitar parts are a bit more simple. There are more chugging power chords and things like that. I find that the Phat Cats are better for that kind of stuff and I use the JB for the more shredding songs.

How are your guitars set up? The action is not too low or too high. It’s at that sweet point. I’ve never been a fan of guitars with really low action. I know it can help you play faster, and I get that aspect of it, but you don’t feel like you’re playing. You can’t dig in. It feels almost too easy. As far as strings, I use .011-.052 S.I.T. strings. For picks, I’ve always used Dunlop black nylon 1 mm picks. I think that’s what my brother used and I’ve used them since I started playing guitar.

How do you and Frank Iero [MCR guitarist] differ as players? What are the most recognizable characteristics you each possess? I’m more of a technical player. On the records, I play all the solos. I’m more into the harmonization of parts, so the harmonized leads on the records are usually me. I guess that’s what I bring to the band and my metal influence. Frank is kind of the counter to that. He’s very rhythmic in his playing and his lines. He plays all of the octave runs and the choruses, and the counter melodies to the main rhythm parts in the verses are his. The way he writes is very linked with what the vocals are doing. He listens very closely to what Gerard [Way, MCR vocalist] is doing and he finds a way to reinforce the melodies that Gerard is singing, but he adds some of his own things to it that either harmonize with what Gerard is doing vocally or with what I’m doing. He finds a really cool way of just fitting in the mix and hitting melodies that your ear wants to hear that fills in those gaps. He’s really good at coming up with very cool melodic lines on the verses and choruses. It’s a cool relationship that we have. Technically, he plays more of the leads, in a sense, and I play the rhythms, but I’m playing more of the leads in a solo sense. It’s just very different depending on which song it is and we do whatever works best for the song.

Did your studio rig for recording The Black Parade differ much from the gear you use live? We used the guitars we play live as our main guitars in the studio. I’m not a big gearhead. I go more on feel and I’m used to the way that my guitar feels. I’m comfortable with it, so that’s what I used predominantly for the whole record, unless there were certain songs or parts that called for different tones that my guitar just didn’t sound right for. The main guitar I used was the Les Paul with Phat Cats. When we went into preproduction in Los Angeles, my DSL100 that I use live broke down. So [producer] Rob Cavallo let me borrow a 100 watt Marshall JCM 800 series head which was the loudest and ballsiest amp I’ve ever heard. Since it sounded so good in preproduction, we used it on the recording. I’m not sure what model cabinet we were running it through, but it was a Marshall. That was the main setup. On occasion when we were going for different textures, like throwing in an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff or another distortion pedal, or any other kinds of effects, we usually ran it through a Hiwatt head. That was pretty much it. We tried to stick to the basics and not get too crazy. We did use a Roland midi guitar synthesizer for all sorts of cool sounds. We used that any time there was a heavier riff on the record. We usually doubled it two octaves lower than the actual note. A lot of the stuff you’re hearing is just straight guitar tones that are very layered. On certain songs, like “The End,” which is the intro to the record, when the tone gets really heavy and the single-note riff comes in, we stacked it by tracking the lowest octave on the guitar to the highest. It’s that Brian May-type mentality of making the guitars very symphonic. Once in a while there’s a chorus pedal or a phaser, but we’re not a very heavy effects-driven band. We like to plug straight into the amp and go. Rob has a huge collection of stompboxes and that’s how we were introduced to the POG. He’s got tons of vintage guitars too, and we used a few of them. For clean verses, like on “Mama” and ��I Don’t Love You,” we were using one of his Teles. I think I used one of his Strats for the solo in “I Don’t Love You.” So we did use other guitars for certain parts, but the guitars we play live were the main ones used to record.

Using your own guitars also makes it a bit easier to recreate the sounds on the record when you go out to play the songs live. Yes. And like I said, for me, the most important thing is being comfortable. Obviously, every guitar plays different and you just get used to how certain guitars feel. I think that when you’re comfortable with the guitar that you’re playing, you’ll play better.

Do you have any particular favorite tracks from the album? My two favorite tracks are “Welcome To The Black Parade” and “Famous Last Words.” “Welcome To The Black Parade” is like our “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It’s probably the most epic song on the record. I love how it came together. It’s a song that we had been writing since the start of the band, but it started out in a very different form. It started out very similar to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” which sounds really weird as a comparison. It was very slow and very chordal-based. The melody that Gerard would sing and just his style of singing was, well the closest thing it sounded like to to us was “My Way.” And it used to be called “The Five Of Us Are Dying.” It didn’t make our first indie record because we just didn’t have the time to finish it. We brought it back for Revenge, and it was another situation where it just wasn’t feeling right. So it didn’t make that record. Then it was one of the first things we looked at when we started writing this record. If a song didn’t work for the first or second record, we like to go back and revisit it because sometimes you just don’t have it in you to write the song at that particular time. That song had about five or six different movements and the closest thing I could relate it to is Green Day’s “Jesus Of Suburbia,” where you have all these different parts of a song which all work together. When we moved to LA to work on the record, we decided that the song still wasn’t working, so we tried adding that fast punk beat and then it felt really good. We tracked the whole thing and then Gerard felt that the lyrics weren’t saying anything to him, and neither was the chorus. So we changed a few things. What’s really cool when you write music is sometimes all you have to do is change a chord progression and that completely changes the face of the song. So we basically just changed one note in the chorus and it let Gerard go somewhere else that he wouldn’t have gone, and that’s where the hook of the song came from. I just have very fond memories of that song because it started out in a completely different form. It’s been a part of this band for five years, and it took that long to really finish the song and define what it truly was about. Then on top of that, the song was just so much fun to record with all the horns, the piano, backing vocals, and do all the layering with the parts. It was a very complex and fun song to record. Five years ago we would never have thought that the song would have ended up becoming what it did. “Famous Last Words” is another of my favorites because lyrically and musically, it’s not one of the most uplifting songs on the record. I just think the song is very powerful. It’s a little simpler than “Black Parade” in a sense, but it has those same movements. It starts out very small with just the vocal and single guitar, then it grows from there and gets to this apex, then breaks down again only to get brought back up. That was one of my favorite songs to write and record. It was written very late in the writing process, and at a very hard time. I think that the song is an example of showing things that the band went through because we went through some hard times and ended up coming out on top. When I listen to it now, it makes me think of that period in the recording process.

The band has grown so much in a short time and achieved a great deal of acclaim, particularly with this album. The band has always moved very fast, even from the beginning when it was just three of us. We’ve always found ourselves in these situations where it was “put up or shut up.” I guess it’s just our attitude and where we come from as people, and what we’ve gone through growing up. We just never quit and we work our asses off. That’s what we have always done. So things have moved fast, but for us it’s like a lifetime of work. As far as the musical side of things, I think this band tends to think one or two records ahead into the future. There was a time before we started writing for The Black Parade, when we were almost writing the album that should have come out after Revenge. A lot of the songs were similar feeling and similar sounding to what we did on Revenge, and a lot of that got scrapped once we really started writing for The Black Parade. After we had written “The End” into “Dead!,” we would rehearse them and we linked those two songs together. We knew they didn’t feel like anything we had done before. We thought that those songs raised the bar for us, and a lot of the songs that we had been writing on tour and some of the songs that were written while we were in New York got scrapped after that because they didn’t measure up. The writing process was fun because we were always trying to match what we had done the week before or even surpass it. We always try to top ourselves, and not only in albums, but also from song to song.

Has touring become more exciting for the band this time around? You spend so many months writing and recording the record, and during that time the record is just yours. It’s the band’s and just the four or five guys who worked on the recording. You sometimes play it for select people, but no one actually has a copy to take home and listen to. What’s great is that finally after six or seven months of writing and recording, the record is now out there “living” and being a part of peoples’ lives. To finally be able to play those songs live for people, it’s just the best. Our fans have been awesome and just super supportive through all of this. They’re excited to hear new stuff. But we’ve never been in this position before because when we wrote Revenge we were a very small indie band and no one was really excited for Revenge to come out. We built it up to where it got, but when that album came out there weren’t many people who were excited, and we built it from there. It was completely different from this experience where we’ve now built up a fan base and they are excited to hear the new music. So it was very nerve wracking because you want people to appreciate what you did — what you worked hard for and worked hard on. The fans have been awesome and we’re finding that they are singing the new songs louder than the older stuff at the shows. It’s that support and an over all sense from people that they really love the new record. It just feels great to go out there and play these songs for people.

What does the band have planned for 2007 and what are you looking forward to most in the coming year? We’ll be touring more and more in 2007. Right now we’re doing smaller shows just to get our feet wet and play live. We were off for so long recording that it takes a while to get back in shape and you just want to ease into it. It’s been cool to get reacquainted with the fans and reacquainted with playing live. Next year is when we’re going to step up the show a notch and bring out more production, so the shows will be bigger and the songs will feel bigger. Right now we’re playing the songs a little more stripped down than we would like, but it’s just to get reacquainted and get back into playing live. In 2007 we’re going to play a lot of parts of the world where we’ve never been before. Playing your first show in a new country is the most exciting thing, and that excitement never goes away. There are a lot of places where we haven’t played yet, so I think that’s what I’m most looking forward to.

Tell us about what you recall to have been your most memorable gig or gigs with the band so far. On this tour, the first show that we played was in Bournemouth, England. It’s a pretty cool place and that gig was awesome. We had such a great time and it was nice to get back and play real shows again. We had been doing a lot of tv and radio performances leading up to the release of the record, and then after that as well. But those performances just didn’t feel like real shows. It was maybe one or two songs, or even if we played a full set, the place was lit for tv so I couldn’t get into the vibe of those shows. So this gig in Bournemouth was the first show we played in a while where it was a real My Chem show, and it felt great to play the old songs again and to finally play the new material. The audience was really great and it was a lot of fun to get back out there. As far as past memorable gigs, we played Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey, which was just awesome. I used to go to shows there all the time there to see my favorite bands like Metallica. My brother took me to that show and it was just incredible. To play places like that, those are the shows that usually go down in my memory as my favorites — when you have a direct connection to that venue or that city, it makes it just that much more special.

I’m sure there were a lot of hometown people there who were cheering you on. Yes. Our families usually end up being the loudest people in the crowd.

That can sometimes make you even more nervous compared to playing in front of people you don’t know. It is true because you definitely want to play your best and give them a good show. That’s usually what you’re thinking about. But it’s distracting when you’re looking out in the crowd and trying to find your family and all the people you know.

What advice would you give to other players who are trying to create their own identity in a two-guitar band? The best way to create your own style is to just be yourself. You can be influenced by what other people do and take the little bits that you like from the different players that you appreciate, but never completely cop someone’s style. Put your own flavor to it. Play what makes you feel good and that’s how you develop your own style. One of the fun things about playing with another guitarist is working on parts together. It’s kind of what music is about — working together as a team. When two guitar players can bring in what they do, make it bigger and better, learn from each other and influence each other, that’s a cool thing. Frank and I have been able to do that and we’ve kind of rubbed off on each other. It’s great to have that experience and it helps you to grow as a musician.

For the latest news on My Chemical Romance and updated tour information, visit the band’s official website at www.mychemicalromance.com.

[littlequeenies]

Why Do We Love...

Jo Jo Laine

We can't recall when we first heard of her, but it was when we were on facebook as Little Queenies profile. We did an album with lots of pics of her we found over the internet back then. Then FB forced us to put our real name instead of "Little Queenies", we refused, so we made the Little Queenies page, but eventually we closed it down as we prefered just to be here in tumblr, and many of our muses just "vanished" as we deleted the page, and Jo Jo was one of them...

[Jo Jo Laine and Bebe Buell at backstage of "Paul McCartney & Wings" concert in Wembley, October 1976]

Until last year (2022) we think, that Bebe posted the footage of this video at her instagram profile, we suddenly remembered about Jo Jo!!

[Happy pregnant Jo Jo pictured in 1973]

What we liked about her is her big smile and her natural auburn hair, and we loved the fact that in the early 70s photos she looked really ethereal, like a fairy queen. As with some of the other muses, we read over the internet that she dated lots of famous musicians and we got surpised that she didn't have a proper website. She had a Myspace profile (remember that?) and we saved some cool photos of her from that place, but as we deleted our facebook and her Myspace doesn't work anymore... lots of pictures were gone forever...

[Left: The happy family on the boat they lived in 1973, Jo Jo is pregnant with her daughter Heidi. Right: Very beautiful photo of Jo Jo and her daughter Heidi taken mid-late 70s]

What we learned ajout Jo Jo Laine is that she was very passionate, she really loved The Wings and wrote some letters to Paul McCartney before meeting him with the dream of being partners... Well, the day they met, she fell for Denny Laine, who had no money at all at that time as The Wings weren't famous at all. Both of them lived in a caravan and in a boat with little things, but they were really happy and had two beautiful kids that Jo Jo adored and protected from the rock'n'roll lifestyle.

[L: Jo Jo pictured in 1973; C: Jo Jo pictured at a Buddy Holly party, 1977; R: Jo Jo & Denny Laine wedding, 1978]

Jo Jo had a difficult lifestyle, she struggled with drugs when she was very young and then, more seriously, she struggled with alcohol to cope with her husband infidelities and the sudden death of a beloved boyfriend (Randy Rhoads) due to an accident, but despite this and all the parties she and her musician friends had at home, she always hid that to her children and gave them a very normal and stable life, and when her daughter Heidi turned 18 she explained her everything.

[Jo Jo debut album released in 1980]

Sometimes we think Jo Jo deserved more recognition for what she did with her kids as it wasn't easy and that's what we like about her, she was very protective towards them and a cool mum ad her daughter recalled Jo Jo was always dressing up and making fun things to them and the three of them had much fun and happiness. Thanks to her mum Heidi has really fond memories of her childhood. Jo Jo was really an angel and a strong woman.

So, today, for her 71st birthday, we wanted to share with all of you, dear followers, how we knew about Jo Jo and what made us love her.

Here we share:

OUR BIOGRAPHY OF HER, WITH LINKS TO AMAZING SITES

HER TIMELINE

HER POSTS IN OUR BLOG

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ROCK ANGEL... - GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN

[disco-cola]

I made a post about randy rhoads on tiktok two days ago bc I feel so many people know he died in a plane crash but not the heartbreaking circumstances behind it (same with cliff and the card drawing game) and a lot of people are commenting how they have seen him live or remember where they were when they heard the news on the radio or saying they didnt even know about this I’m honestly so glad the video is being seen and people are still so interested in him bc that story is so heartbreaking it’s actually insane he was such a goodhearted cute little bean

[fkyumerica]

then they start killing her with drugs, no tits, im an ass man

and her on top of her killing her she thinks its funny

now he might have friends outside

this is when I kill them and hand them off

hey remember when we hahah she fell asleep with a lethal injection haha they came in party house

they would just leave shit for anyone

they would hand these guys infants, mustache

and fake wives after o take care of them to be demon scary, and hold a erecction, whats a cut off dick fad mom?

fad meant fit it in we put em in pants

do it now

ok, unties it tube urethra from infant he is fucking got the tube from his grandma at the new hospital do they support straws we lied

cum in 18

he is in the show stranger things

and takes it out and he fucks another infant hsi mom handed him

now he grip ties its throat around and throws it in water

then water revive it was the movie 'imprint'

then his gay dad gets shot inn the face

so did i

didnt do it yet, gay fucks a bitch in a garaage and shes beyonce

and him revivedd. a teacher now.

just gay dope.

they let it out too.

frankenstein.

still? whore him

ramirez

then he was

blonde, randy rhoads

oh no she knows

im no daddy

wtf

make him blonde bill

i can live then i shot bill now im ricky

yea no what if

[confessionsofanangrymetalhead]

I knew I needed to go to this as soon as I heard that Shadows Fall, who had regrouped in 2021 after an indefinite hiatus that lasted seven years and saw drummer Jason Bittner join Flotsam and Jetsam and eventually Overkill, and lead guitar GOD Jonathan Donais join Anthrax, intended on performing their 2004 CLASSIC, The War Within in its entirety. That was fucking huge news! But for those of you who might be clueless, let’s discuss why! The Importance of The War Within The War Within, the band’s fourth album and third with vocalist Brian Fair, is the most important album in the band’s entire catalog. It was released on the heels of their previous album, 2002’s The Art of Balance, which went on to sell over 100,000 copies in a time when album sales were steadily declining. You bet your ass I was one of those 100,000 people who actually bought the fucking record! I even saw Shadows Fall live for the first time a year later during an Ozzfest off-date. Having come from the New Wave of American Heavy Metal scene that was largely based in the Northeast and spawned bands such as Aftershock and Overcast – those two bands being the roots of Shadows Fall and especially Killswitch Engage – alongside All That Remains (Phil Labonte was actually the vocalist on Shadows Fall’s 1997 debut, Somber Eyes to The Sky), God Forbid (more on that band later!), Mastodon and Lamb of God, the sound was largely a mix of Hardcore breakdowns and Metallic intensity. Unfortunately, this became Metalcore. But Shadows Fall were different. Via Brain Fair’s roots in Overcast, especially after he joined Shadows Fall for their second album, 2000’s Of One Blood, the hardcore influence could be heard. But thanks to those riffs that scream Iron Maiden AND Morbid Angel, along with Jon Donais’ Randy Rhoads meets Zakk Wylde lead guitar style, they were far more Metal than Hardcore. By the time The War Within was released, the press at large had been calling them the next Metallica for two years, thanks to The Art of Balance. With TWW, the guitars were even stronger than on the last album, the drums were harder hitting, the production was clearer, and the song writing was even stronger. The album had debuted at #28 on the Billboard charts. I was a first day buyer, taking to bus to Sam Goody right after I finished with class for the day. It’d earned them sales of almost 400,000 copies – a FIRST for Century Media Records! – their first main stage slot on the next year’s Ozzfest (the last time I saw them live), and eventually, a major label deal with Atlantic Records. I still remember driving from Staten Island to Starland Ballroom to see Mastodon in May of 2005. I was on Rt 9, driving over the water, WSOU (more on them momentarily) on the radio, when the DJ announced that The War Within had sold 200,000 copies. The was incredible to hear; it meant a lot to the fans, I’m sure, and it meant a lot to the underground Metal scene, especially with Lamb of God releasing their major label debut nine months prior, and Mastodon very close to signing their own major label deal. The Show The show, I’m pretty sure was organized by WSOU, the top college station in terms of playing underground Heavy Metal for DECADES. My first exposure to WSOU in the early months of 1997 happened by mistake. I was looking for another station when I came across this one station that happened to be blasting Death Metal, the likes of which my 7th grade, dumbass self had never heard before and I’d assumed that this had to be the station. It wasn’t, but I clearly still listened up until they were forced to change their format right at the beginning of 2002. They eventually were able to revert back to their prior format; but they had to fight hard to make it happen. It’s been my first show at Starland since I saw Zakk Sabbath in 2017. And before that, the last time I’d been there was most likely the 2008 Summer Slaughter tour, with such a shitty lineup that I totally forgot that it was the last time I saw The Black Dahlia Murder! But I spent a good thre...

[jkrump]

RandyRhoads #JohnAtashian #VMI #Worldwide #heavymetal #QuietRiot #OzzyOsbourne #guitarist #BlizzardofOzz #RockandRollHallofFame #classicalguitar #CrazyTrain #MrCrowley #EddieVanHalen #Music #MusicNews

[thegrayhairedman]

Randy Rhoads

Ozzy Osbourne once said that Randy Rhoads was an angel for him. And he was right: for me he will forever be a bright angel too. I love him and admire his music, his sincerity in every movement, the fiery fire on the stage, his clear mind and honest heart. I know for sure - the world needs Randy Rhoads. But he still does a lot for those who remember him.

If you want to buy this art for production or get it in the best resolution without a watermark, then go to my patreon! I also take orders for the creation of portraits, characters and illustrations.

https://www.patreon.com/thegrayhairedman https://www.behance.net/the_gray_haired_man

[musicincommon]

Remembering a virtuoso of guitar on this day! 41 years ago we lost an Icon of classical & heavy metal guitar - March 19th 1982. The Great Randy Rhoads!

[thisdayinmetal]

The day Randy Rhoads died

Another year passes and for us that remember this tragic day we will never forget the amazing Randy Rhoads. What was suppose to be a joyride turned out to be a nightmare as the plane crashed killing Rhoads and Rachel Youngblood, a 58-year-old seamstress and cook for the Osbourne band; and Andrew Aycock, a 36-year-old bus driver with an expired pilot’s license. Aycock had, according to a report…

[jeffcbliss]

Michael "Angelo" Batio formerly of Nitro - as part of the Randy Rhoads tribute show, Randy Rhoads Remembered - Yost Theater; Santa Ana, CA (1-24-19).

Photo: Jeff Bliss

[metalshockfinland]

BILL HUDSON At NAMM Joining 10th Annual RANDY RHOADS REMEMBERED Show

BILL HUDSON At NAMM Joining 10th Annual RANDY RHOADS REMEMBERED Show

[Photo-credit: Jim Wilkinson]“ATTENTION, #NAMM goers! Bill Hudson will be joining such legends as Rudy Sarzo (QUIET RIOT/OZZY), Doug Aldrich (DIO/WHITESNAKE), Brian Tichy (W.A.S.P/WHITESNAKE) Michael Angel Batio and many others for the 10th annual RANDY RHOADS REMEMBERED show on Thursday Jan 24th at the Yost Theater in Santa Ana, CA! Bill Hudson and Patrick Johansson (Northtale drummer) will be…

[randyrhoadsstudent]

Really nice!

[greenwood106-blog]

66 Years And The Legend Continues

December is generally known for Santa, Trees, and Reindeer, but for me and many others, December has been so much more.

Let's start with the good.

On this day in 1956 in Santa Monica, California, Randy Rhoads was born. His mother was a music instructor, and over the few years of his life, Randy became one of the greatest guitarists ever.

At 17 Randy formed Quiet Riot with bassist Kelli Garni. Quiet Riot developed a huge fan base and had record deals overseas, but could never land one here while Randy was in the band.

In 1979, Rhoads met his destiny when he auditioned for Ozzy Osbourne, who had been kicked out of Black Sabbath and was starting a solo band.

I heard him at a friend's house. when he dropped the needle and I Don't Know started on the debut album Blizzard of Ozz, my life was changed forever. I knew then that I wanted to play guitar.

I remember night after night working to learn I Don't Know on a guitar my dad owned. His guitar was very hard to play, and we had no internet the, so it was listen and try to play it until my fingers literally bled.

The second album was Diary of a Madman and the tour came through Phoenix on New Year's Day 1982. At that age, I snuck out and went to many concerts, since concerts only cost $10 back then. But for some reason, I chose not to go to this show, a decision I still to this day regret.

After their show in Knoxville, TN on March 18, the tour bus was headed for Florida. It stopped in Leesburg, Florida to work on the bus. The driver knew the owner of the place they stopped. He was a licensed pilot and convinced Randy to take a flight with him.

He flew too close and clipped the bus and flipped directly into the house and burst into flames. At just 25 years old, Randy Rhoads was gone.

Back then we didn't have 24 news outlets, so it was the next day or so when the newspaper had the news of his death. I can still see the article.

At one point in my youth, my walls were covered of pics of Ozzy and Randy. I remember Elvis Presley and John Lennon dying and the way it impacted people, but I was fairly new to their music. Randy was the first person who was such an influence on me to pass away.

Randy was also the inspiration to teach guitar. He used to say he learned more from teaching than ever would have imagined. Man was he right. Teaching taught me a tremendous amount, and it made teaching and sharing my love for guitar a real joy.

This year, Randy Rhoads: Reflections of a Guitar Icon was released. A documentary 40 years after his death that showed he was still an impactful player that still influences young players.

To have such an impact in such a short life tells you what a force he was.